skribs
Grandmaster
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2013
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People say that it's easier to learn something for the first time, than to relearn it. You see this in regards to bad habits, as well as stylistic differences. The idea that it's easier to fill an empty cup than one that's already full of something else.
However, in my experience, it's easier to change things you've already learned than it is to learn something new. Many students, when they start, they struggle with simple things. Let's use forms as an example. They might step with the wrong leg or turn the wrong direction. They're not even aware of their stance, or what their off-hand is doing.
On the other hand, let's take someone who's been training for a while under one style of forms, and they start to do another. The first style uses a 60/40 wide back stance with a deep bend, where the new style uses a 70/30 narrow back stance with a shallow bend. This person has already written the code in their kinematics for stance width, length, depth, and weight distribution. Instead of learning how to control all of that, they are simply adjusting to new values within those variables.
It's like getting used to writing "2022" on your checks, versus when you first learned how to write checks (or first learned how to write).
However, in my experience, it's easier to change things you've already learned than it is to learn something new. Many students, when they start, they struggle with simple things. Let's use forms as an example. They might step with the wrong leg or turn the wrong direction. They're not even aware of their stance, or what their off-hand is doing.
On the other hand, let's take someone who's been training for a while under one style of forms, and they start to do another. The first style uses a 60/40 wide back stance with a deep bend, where the new style uses a 70/30 narrow back stance with a shallow bend. This person has already written the code in their kinematics for stance width, length, depth, and weight distribution. Instead of learning how to control all of that, they are simply adjusting to new values within those variables.
It's like getting used to writing "2022" on your checks, versus when you first learned how to write checks (or first learned how to write).